Fuel control means for heating apparatus



Dec. 8, 1931 E. PETERS A 1,835,330

FUEL CONTROL MEANS FOR HEATING AFPARATUS Filed Jan. 27 1950 III INVENTOR,

ATTORNEY has been extinguished. v a Other 'objects more or'les'snpparent will V tlon with a wrench or otherltool.* Therecessed projection 10 is provided with a fuel inlet 15,-the said fuel being adapted to pass to the insideof'the casing through a number. I

Patented Dec. 8, 1931 7 'LESLIEiE. PETERS, or sAN rnANcIsco, CALIFORNIA ,E'TJ'EL cou'rnoniuunus ronHnArmeArPARA'rUs Application fileiiaiiuai 27, f193o.' Serial mama.

This invention relates to improvements in thermostatic controlmeans for-heaters;

' An object of mylinvention is tofprovidefi improved thermostatic control means for" iregulating the flow'offuel toburnersi n r V r 1o still furth'erv Fobject of? my invention is to provide improved tliermostatic control i' meansfor use with heat ng apparatus where- "in n'ovelmeans isiemployed for shutting off ""present themselves "or will specifically pointed out in the} description to follow;

In the accompanying drawing thefigure is a vertical cross'sect1 0nal v1ew of aithermo-;

static control: means constructed in 1 accord .ancewlth myiinvention.

Referring to the"draw1ng the num'ra 1 represents an air tight rectangular shaped 2 casing through which quantities of gaseous fuel may pass. Screwed into the topside of the casing'at one end thereofis a pip'e 2 which 'isfconnected at a point outside the cas ingwith a water carrying pipe '3, the said nected to a water heater; 'Located insidethe water carrying pipe 3 isa thermostatic control means comprising the usual copper tube ihaving a metal or glass rod 5 therein. The

; rod 5 isactuated downwardlyupon'the con traction of the copper tube and upwardly upon theexpansion ofthe said tube, the latter being expanded bywarm or'hot water passmg through or gontmctefdby cold" from the easing into its recessed projection water in theisaid pipe.

' Slidably extending through the bottom ofend of the shaft is Iprovided'with two spaced circular projections 7 between which an end of a lever member '8 is positioned; the said the flowof fuel to a burner when a' pilot light" gustably moved upward or downward by isseated on the seat.

The top side of the casing 1, at a point diwater carrying pipe beingiordinarily'con tical'shaft .6 havinga threaded opening in its 1 upper end for the attachment of the down-- Wardly disposed end'of'the rod 5. The upper ried by the casing; i

The bottom of thecasing 1, at an 'end opposite to that end where the shaft 6 is located, 2 is provided with athreaded recessed projec- Another object of my invention ist'oprovide improved thermostatic control means jfo'r regulating the flowof fuel to "a pilot tion 10 within which a cup shaped partition normally project-s above the bottom of the casing. fThepartition member is provided with'a downwardly disposed extension 13 which extends through a suitable packing gland 14. Thepartition member may be adof openings 16 located inthe partition'member 11. The upper ends of the openings 16 are positioned beneath the seat 12 on the" partition member, this being toprevent fuel from passing'through the openings when-a disc rectly above the recessed projection 10 on the bottom, is provided with a recessed projection' 17having a fuel outlet 18. The chamber located inthe recessed projection 17 communicates directly with the inside of the casing, thereby providing a continuous passageway for-the movement-of fuel from the casing to the outlet 18. i'The inside or lower surface of the topofthe casing at a point beneath the recessed projection 17 is provided'with a cir- 'cular' flange 19 which forms a seat onwhich V disc mayr'est' to prevent fuel from passing Tl elever member 8' is provided atan end thereofwith a steel spri1ig20 which is secured to an upright "bar 21, the'ends of which are pivotally attached to discs 22 and 23." The disc 22 isadaptedto rest 011 seat 12 to -prevent fuel frompassing into the casing while the disc 23 is adaptedto contact with the seat "on flange 19 to prevent'fuel frompassing fromthe inside ofthecasing' i Secured to the top of the recessed projection 17 is a T-shaped flange 24 having a horizontal opening ther-ethrough as well as a vertical opening extirely therethrough. Suitably secured to the flange 24 at points where the ends of the opening 25 occur, are pipes 26 and 27, the former pipe leading from a suitable source of gaseous fuel and the latter pipe leading to a pilot burner mounted in th e heat; ing apparatus. Moveably mounted in the vertical opening in the T-shapedflange-2' 1- is a rod 28, the lower part of which projects through the chamber in the recessed flange 17 and has its downwardly disposed end contacting with the disc 23. The upper end of the rod 28 projects above theend of the vertical. opening in the flange 24- and is normally in contact with an end ofa'pivoted top-heavy lever 29. The rod'28-is provided with a cut out part on groove 39 which is normally adapted'to registerwith the opening 25 in the T-shaped flange to allow fuel to pass through the pipes {ZS-and 27 to the pilot burner. At

certain times, as will be later described, the rod 28 moves upwardly to carry the groove out of registry with the opening 25, thereby preventing the passage of fuel through the said opening to the pilot burner.

When it is desired to commence the operation of the heating apparatus to which the 1 control valve is attached, the lever member 29 is moved upwardly to a position shown by the dotted lines, thereby causing the rod 28 to move downwardly to the position indicated by the dotted lines. As the said rod moves downwardly the groove 30 therein'iscarried into registry with the opening 25 in the T- shaped flange 24, thereby allowing gaseous fuel to proceed through the pipes 26 and 27' to the pilot burner. The rod 28 in moving downwardly, forces the discs 23. and 22 against the tension'of spring 20 in a down ward direction, thereby causing the disc 23 to become unseated or removed from'the seat on the flange '19. The unseating of the disc 23 permits quantiti es of gaseous fuel to proceed from the inlet 15 through the chamber in the recessed projection 10 to the inside of the casing, from whence it then passes through the chamber in the recessed projection 17 to the outlet 18. The fuel passing'through the outlet 18 proceeds to the heating-apparatus and is thereupon ignited by the flame at the pilot burner. As the waterin the heating apparatus becomesheated itpasses through the pipes 3 and 2 and around the copper tube 4:, thereby causing thesaid tube to expand and the rod 5to move in an upward direction. The movement of the rod 5 inan upward direction also causes the shaft 6 with its flanges 7 to move-upwardly, thereby moving the lever member '8 about its pivot 9 in such a manner that the spring 20, the'bar 21 and the discs 22and 23 are moved in downward directions. The particular position of the partition member 11 with reference to the disc 22 will control the amount of movement necessary to cause the said disc to contact with the seat 12 on the said partition member. Thus if the partition member 11 is screwed upwardly the disc 22 will not have to travel in a downward direction for such a great distancein order to contact with the seat 12. The partition member 12 being capable of adjustment, provides suitable means for shutting off the 'flo'W of fuel to the heating apparatus upon the water therein reaching a certain maximum temperature. Therefore as soon as the water passing through pipes 3 and 2 has reached a certain maximum temperature the rod5 will have been moved upwardly sufliciently to cause the disc 22 to contact with the seat 12 and discontinue the flow of gaseous fuel from the casingto the outlet 15. Upon the shutting ofl of thegas flow to the heating apparatus the water passing through pipes 3'and 2 becomes cooled, thereby causingthe contraction ofcopper tube Land the down ward movement of the rod 5. If the rod 5 moves to an extreme upward position, as

' In ordinary practice and normally theadj ust ments of the partition 11 and the shaft 6 will enable the discs 22 and 23 to be positioned between their two seats without contact being made therewith, thereby allowingv the fuel to pass from the inlet 18through the casingand the outlet 18 to the heating apparatus. Owing to the fact that the pilot burner normally maintains the water in the .heatmg apparatus in a slightly preheated state, the rod 5 is not moved downward suifi-' cientlyto cause the disc 23 to engage withv its :seat on flange 19. Should the gas supply be shut off at the source, the thermostatic means operatesto move the disc 23 upwardly against the seat on flange 19, thereby elevating the rod 28 and causing the closing of the opening 25 through the T-shaped member 24:.

After the disc 23 had been moved downwardly by the levermeniber 29 and the water 7 in the heating apparatus reaches a sufficient temperature to move the rod 5 upwardly to remove thetension on spring 20, the pressure of the disc 23aga1'nst the rod 28 is relieved.

thereby permltting the lever member 29 to drop by its own weight to ahorizontal position as indicated by the fulllines.

Having described my invention what I claim is: I

1. Fuel control means comprismg a casing having a fuel inlet and a fuel outlet, a projecting member mounted on the casing having an opening extending therethrough,- a plurality of connected discs mounted in the casing for opening and closing the inlet and outlet openings, thermostatic'control means mounted on the casing for actuating the discs, a rod moveably extending through the projecting member having means for opening andclosing the opening through the projecting member, one end of the rod being in contact with one of the discs and the other end ,being positioned above the projecting member, and a lever member mounted on the projecting member for moving the rodto position a disc away from the outlet opening and to open the opening through the projecting member. a

2. Fuel control meanscomprising a casing having a fuel inlet and a fuel outlet, a plurality of connected discs moveably' mounted in the casing for closing and opening the inlet and outlet openings, thermostatic control means mounted on the casing for actuating the discs, means for delivering fuel" to a pilot burner, a rod for actuating the discs, the said rod carrying means for controlling the passage of fuel through the means for delivering fuel to the burner, and a lever for moving the'rod. V a I 3. Fuel control means comprising a casing'having fuel inlet and outlet means therein, a disc for regulating the flow of fuel through the casing, thermostatic means for moving the disc, fuel supply means leading to a pilot burner, a rod for moving the disc to a position whereby fuel is prevented from proceeding throughthe casing, means caroperated means has been manually moved to V ried by the rod for controlling the movement of fuel through the fuel supply means, and,

a lever member for actuating the rod. 7

4. In fuel control means, a casing having fuel inlet and outlet means, thermostatic controlled means mounted in the casing for automatically regulating the fioW of fuel through the casing, manually operated means for moving the thermostatic controlled means to a position whereby fuel is prevented from passing through the outlet means, fuel supply means leading to a pilot burner, and means earned by the manually operated means for preventing fuel to proceed through the said fuel supply means when the said manually a certain position. a

5. Fuel control means comprising a casing having inlet and outlet means therein, thermostatic controlled means mounted in the casing for automatically regulating the flow of fuel through the casing, manually operated means for moving the thermostatic controlled means to a position whereby fuel operated means for preventing fuel to proposition whereby the fuel supply means may again conduct fuel to the pilot burner.

In testimony whereof Ihave affixed my sig nature. 7

LESLIE E. PETERS.

returning the manually operated means to a is prevented from passing through the outlet means, fuel supply means leading to a pilot burner, meanscarried by'the manually 

